"I love Portland"...

Mary Grace makes that statement, sometimes a period follows, sometimes an explanations of why follows.  But, one thing is certain she is loving Portland five or six times a day!  Oh, and for my mom & anyone else wondering about me, I love it too!

Pictures and video links

We are safely in Portland on a sunny Monday afternoon.  The weather is great, the sky's are clear and we are nearly all settled into our new home.  The TV is working properly (I've been enjoying it nearly all day), which was purchased Saturday.  The couch also arrived today.  The bed, two dressers, night table, entertainment center, side table and mirror arrived Sunday morning.  We purchased the furniture from IKEA, so we had a couple days of assembly and bonding.  But now we have all our furniture needs and only need to hang a mirror and a couple paintings.  

Here is a link to an album of many of the remaining pictures. 

Here are a couple links to a couple YouTube's of the journey

Blog update

The internet at the coffee shop we went to today wasn't working, and we have internet now at home but it isn't working exactly right.  Hope to have it all figured out tonight and will be blogging over the thanksgiving weekend. 

Hope everyone has a great holiday and we miss all of you!

Welcome to Portland

2:07pm local time, 58 degrees and raining!  We are about 20 minutes from our new home and have entered Portland city limits

Onward to Portlandia!!!

We are back on the road but today feels different.  It is not only that our day started at 5am mountain time.  No, it is mainly because our destination today is not an intermittent stop in Indianapolis, Chicago, Kadoka, Casper, Salt Lake City, or Boise.  The final stop and overall purpose of this trip will be reached today, and that is 550 19th Ave, PORTLAND, OR! 
8 or so hours from now we should be pulling into our new home.  We are getting Internet tomorrow and will try to stop in a coffee shop as we explore the city this afternoon. 

Thank you for reading and we are appreciative of each and every comment we have received.  Keep them coming!!  We will continue to post for at least the next week or so, and may continue after that depending on your level of interest.  So, if you want to hear about our life in Portland, leave a comment and let us know!

Below are a couple pictures from Boise.

It has to be 5 pounds...

the amount of weight i've gained. we just finished a yummy and filling breakfast at craker barrel outside salt lake city, where we also returned our micro human audio tape. we decided not to get another one since jared has about 50 hours of podcasts just waiting to be deleted from his phone. that works for me because i can tune them out and focus on my books. i like some of the podcasts, like radiolab, but the political and financial episodes are definitely not entertaining and i end up zoning out once they start covering macro economic, governors i've never heard of and the many bubbles that are or will bust in the next 20 years. but jared loves them and actually just laughed... they are talking about accounting.

so i get to read my books, the twilight series, for the fourth time. i know, i know, pretty ridiculous for a 30 year old to read books written for teens, but i have this tradition, if i can call it that, to read all the books right before i watch the movie. im not sure if ill finish them before we watch breaking dawn 1 because jared really wants to watch it. :)

anyway, back to 5 pounds. we've eaten really really well (as in alot) on this trip and the only physical activity we've done is the walking tours of indy, chicago and salt lake. jared ran once in chicago but not me. why didnt i pack tennis shoes and workout clothes you ask? jared was really judicious about what goes in the back seat as the trunk is never opened. it was so hard to pack for 7 days in one bag... i just had no room for running shoes and multiple workout clothes. so im going to be exploring portland alot when i get there... while running.

we're on our way north to boise now, our last stop before we get to our new home city. we apologize for the lack of postings of late, but the weather really hasnt cooperated. yesterday was another full day of driving but we were able to walk around salt lake and j has some cool pics and videos he'll post later. its raining right now so our view of the landscape is limited to about a quarter of a mile... we can barely make out the mountains to our right/east and the hundreds of cows and farmland to our left/west. we're looking forward to touring boise, pronounced "boy-see", not "boy-z" as advized by my bro-in-law gavin... doesn't roll off the toungue as easily, but we've been practicing.

more later

Driving in Wyoming

Blixen on her perch, MG racing a train and the Wyoming hills in the distance.  I was videoing and now know that it only does landscape videos.  We'll just have to try again today.  It's -8 degrees right now, and even though it is getting up to 43 today, I doubt much melts.

The difference between 3&5 and Blixen gets restless

I start writing this at 8:30pm Mountain Time after a very, very long and stressful day.  Today was suppose to be a day of sightseeing in South Dakota that included stops at the Badlands, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  Unfortunately, a few inches of ice changed that.  We were unable to get off the Interstate and actually had to go 100 miles out of the way in order to stay on Interstates in lieu of the most direct route, which included ice covered hills. The roads were pretty good, but they were far from clear.  Instead of keeping the 75mph speed limit, we were going 55mph and were driving on ice.  It was a tough day, but we ended it at a local brewery.  When we walked from our parking spot on the other corner of the block we were energized by the 5 degree temperature.  They had some of their own beers that were good, and my BBQ burger was amazing.  The patty and the bread were good, but what made it great was the onion ring on it, and the thick pieces of maple bacon.  Next time you are in Casper, WY go to Wonderbar.  On our way out we noticed it felt much colder, the same bank was now telling us it is 3 degrees outside.  I know people say, "it's hot, but it's a dry heat".  Well, let me tell you, wet or dry, 3 degrees is REALLY COLD.  Hopefully it won't get any colder in the next hour, as Blixen still needs to go out... more on that below.

Speaking of Blix, she has been great.  She has a little bit less than half the backseat to lay.  But, it isn't as simple as that.  Because we have all our stuff in the car, Blixen has a "perch".  Her portion of the backseat has two bags and a suitcase on the seat, with our kitchen supplies underneath.  On top of all that is Blixen's bed with the Blixenator on top.  She also has a regular bed pillow and gets covered by my (Jared's) jacket if she wants it.  But, over top of her is a painting we are bringing to hang in our new place.  Speaking of our new place, check out or new home. I think Blix enjoys the company and the 5 or 6 walks she gets a day.  Still, she is confined and in an unusual space.  Tonight it finally got to her.  She "ran" out of the hotel room and we had to chase her down.  I thought she needed to go out, so I raced her outside only to have her spend 10 minutes sniffing before she gave the ice "her business".  I know I'm biased, but I can't imagine a better dog, or one that could handle this better than her.  MG is rewarding her with regular treats. 

Tomorrow, we drive to Salt Lake City.  The high tomorrow in SLC is 46, a far cry from tonight's low of -11 in Casper, WY!  Good night all and thanks for reading!!!

A dissapointing snow storm

not that it wasn't absolutely gorgeous, but it prevented us from visiting the badlands and mount rushmore. sooooo sad but there was honestly no way. we tried valiantly, getting off the interstate and making it a little ways through the rushmore town but we were sliding around all over and struggling to get up even the slightestt incline and the actual mountain was 25 miles away... uphill...we just couldn't do it so after apologizing to each other, not that it was our fault that a blizzard just happened to descend upon us, but because we knew how much we both wanted to see rushmore, we turned around and headed back to the interstate..

jared deserves alot of praise and the opportunity to sit as a passenger for the next three days (maybe once we get out of the white out, please) for driving in this mess and navigating through the rare patches of pavement, slush, ice and dusting powder that drifted everywhere on the streets, highways and interstate.

so we're on our way to our next hotel in wy with hopes of coming back to south dakota... one day. still more fantastic sites to see along the route to portland so we're not discouraged and still in good spirits.

Chicago Pictures

We are in the Mountain Time Zone now, so it's only 6:20 right now.  We've already eaten breakfast and Blixen has been for a walk.  We'll be heading out in a about 45 minutes for the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse, weather permitting for all (it snowed about 6 inches last night).  For now, check out the pictures of Chicago below.

View from River, Trump Tower in the background, Wrigley Building in foreground

Trump Tower, 2nd tallest building in Chicago and one of 4 Super Tall Buildings (over 1k feet)

Navy Pier, it's like a city on a pier!

A Chicago icon

Wrigley Building

Trump Tower from the water.  The building vertical setbacks is a tribute to Chicago buildings of the early 20th Century.  And, the glass and setbacks allow for light to get to the street.

Architectural Society Boat Tour.  Awesome idea!  It was recommended by 4 or 5 different people, and even though it was 33 degrees when we did it, it was great!!!

 Millennium Park

More in  Millennium Park!

 Us through the "Big Bean" in  Millennium Park. I'm taking the picture with the camera in my hand.

Honey I shrunk the scientists

our 2nd audio book we picked up from craker barrel is a novel by michael chrichton about this new technology that changes things' dimensions. it's interesting and keeping us entertained on this 14 hour journey through somewhat flat farmland. besides the occasional hill and scattering of wind mills/farms, there is really not much variation in the landscape. even the farmland is void of character: perhaps it's the time of year you let the ground go fallow (i think that's the word) or maybe there really isn't anything to plant in the winter, but the fields are bare, with remnants of some dried white stalk... or maybe hay.

we have about 7 hours to go, which will put us in kadoka around 8 or 9 pm. we're not sure if we travel enough distance in south dakota to enter mountain time or not, which cuts the state in half- our craker barrel map doesn's show kadoka... imagine that. hehe

the next proper city we drive through is sioux falls... or as jared called it "sigh-ox" falls... and at that time we'll be in south dakota, just over the border. until then it's 134 more miles of desolate farmland and micro-sized people trying to survive in the hawaiian jungle.

States we've been in so far

NC:  Monday, Tuesday
VA:  Tuesday
WV:  Tuesday
OH:  Tuesday
IN:  Tuesday, Wednesday
IL:  Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
WI:  Friday
MN:  Friday
SD:  Friday, Saturday
WY:  Saturday

Wrapping up Chicago

Mary Grace is asleep now, although she probably will not get the 8 hours she requires.  We are leaving before sunrise tomorrow AM to continue our journey.  Our next stop is Kadoka.  I joked to MG tonight that there were probably 10x more people in the Hancock Building than all of Kadoka.  The latest census placed the population of Kadoka at 654.  The two main attractions in Kadoka (other than us) are the Depot Museum which opens from 6 - 8 pm on  a few days. and the airport (two grass runways).  About 2 hours past Kadoka is Mount Rushmore.  Since its nearly 14 hours of driving from Chicago to Kadoka, I felt that was close enough - we can cover the last couple miles Saturday morning.  Speaking of Saturday, the weather should be wonderful... wonderful that is if you like the weather report below.

We better bundle up!  Fortunately, it should only be 2 or so inches.  Also, the record low for the day is -4, so at least it won't be that cold (the record high is 64, so it could have have much better too)!!!

PS>  Pictures and more on Chicago tomorrow.

Pictures

Mary Grace with the Nut Cracker

Mary Grace taking a shot inside the NCAA Hall of Champions Basketball Court.

 Jared posing on the court where the plaque designates where Lorenzo Charles hit his game winning shot for NC State's last Basketball National Championship.

 

Downtown Indy

Indiana State Seal

View from the park adjacent to the NCAA complex in Indy

Pictures of some of a few of the hundreds of wind turbines we saw between Indy and Chicago (also the background image to the blog now)

 

I can't feel my nose...

or my fingers or my toes...

"Jared, find me some sun... look, a patch of light, lets walk down that street!" RIDICULOUSLY cold, BUT, we realized that speed walking and intermittent pit stops in coffee shops helped keep us from hypothermia. I still can't believe Jared went running in shorts this morning- crazy :)



The architectural boat tour was phenomenal, despite the cold. I can now point out a modernist, post-modernist, and art deco building. The boat took us on the river and canals that wind through the city and only add to its spectacular grandeur. Plus, in the 80's, the mayor mandated that every building already built and every future building must provide a river walk area, so there is this continuous path along the water's edge that changes in size, shape and character depending on the building that provided it.... sooo cool.

After grabbing lunch at an Armenian restaurant for hot soup and schwarma, we power walked to Millennium park. It was a long park with various features such as fountains, tennis courts, artistic bridges, paths, this huge mirror that looked like a bean (Jared has some crazy video of that), extremely fat squirrels and a massive metal amplitheater structure that looked like it was a prop in the latest transformer movie; I just pictured it twisting and turning to create one of those crazy robots that would dominate the world... seriously, look at the picture below!

We're defrosting right now before heading to the Hancock building for a drink with a view and then to a pizza place, recommended by Anne and Gavin, to watch the UNC game.

Good news: Day 3 and we still love each other :)

Coldest Day in Chicago in eight months!

Blixen woke up at midnight last night and decided it was a good time to go to the bathroom.  The temperature in the 30s made the trip a quick one, unfortunately it only got colder throughout the night.  One of my most favorite things to do in a new city is to go for a run in the morning.  You get to see the city from an entirely different perspective.  So, I got up and put my running shorts, shoes, shirt and jacket on.  After grabbing my phone and a couple minutes of light stretching I headed out the door.  Immediately the temperature hit me, it was in the 20s and the wind reminded me why Chicago is The Windy City.  After a few minutes I warmed up a bit, and I was very glad I did it.  I've run in colder temperatures, but it was a shock to the system. 

The agenda for the day is equally as daunting as the run.  We are going to do a boat tour of the city and make our way to Millennium Park.  Other than that, we plan to grab a drink tonight in the Hancock Building, and some deep dish pizza while we watch the UNC - VaTech game.  We'll have an early start to our day tomorrow, as it will be our longest day of driving for the entire week.  So far in two days of driving we've covered about 26% of our distance.  After we arrive in Kadoka, South Dakota tomorrow night, we will have equaled that.  AND, we'll be over half way to Portland. 

Things I've learned about Chicago:

• It is big
• It does a good job of highlighting it's uniqueness.  The buildings, the river walk and the Navy Pier are all good examples of it.  It is a good juxtaposition to Indy - The park by the NCAA facilities was impressive in Indy, as were the canals, but the rest of the city fell flat.  A lot of big buildings that encompassed entire blocks and without much character. 

I will post my pictures tonight.  My phone is having issues charging and loading.  I think I have a solution, but now it's time to get the day started!!!

Brrr... my teeth won't stop chattering

We are now toasty and warm in our hotel room in downtown Chicago, but not before loosing about 3 pounds by near constant shaking and teeth chattering in the 30 degree windy Chicago weather. More on that later...

So this morning we woke up a little groggy, due to some pretty tasty brews at a local pub in downtown Indianapolis Monday night. That didn't stop us from checking out the city with a chilly walk around downtown with Blixen, who appreciated getting out of the hotel, but was tuckered out after two miles. The highlight of our Indy adventure was walking around the amazing canal system and parks AND OF COURSE the NCAA Hall of Fame Museum.

Then we were off to yet another state. Three and a half hours later after passing the largest wind farm we've ever seen, we arrived in the beautiful and huge Chicago. We hit a few highlights early on, stopping by Garretts popcorn for a caramel/chedder cheese mix, which was AMAZING, and then making our way down Michigan Avenue, veering East to Navy Pier and the Ferris Wheel.

I'm not going to lie, I was terrified... that Ferris Wheel was not only ginormous, but moved so darn slowly! I may have had a mild freakout, at which Jared laughed profusely, yet I survived and laughed with him once it was all over. The views of the city from the top were absolutely gorgeous, although we disagreed on which Great Lake we were admiring... Jared was right, Lake Michigan.... oooppps.

We have a full day of Chicago site seeing tomorrow! Night all!

Indiana, our fifth state!

We are an hour from our hotel tonight and are in the fifth and final state of the evening (NC, VA, WV, OH, IN).  Finally, MG is driving! :). We are all holding up pretty well but I think we are ready to end our second longest driving day of the trip.
We had a great lunch in downtown Charleston, WV.  Glad we stopped and real happy with the meal, but I wasn't impressed with the city.  Other notes of the day:
Rural Ohio is a lot like Eastern NC, flat & farmland.
Audiobooks are a good distraction on long trips
WV countryside is beautiful

More later but a special thank you to MG's mom, Heather, Dennis & Avigail, and Josh & Kristi for providing us gas cards, which will be enough to get us to Indy!!

More later!

Hold your breath, you can do it...

i said to myself as i pushed down on on jared's leg to make the car go faster. we were playing the childhood game of holding your breath as you go through a tunnel and we both suceeded... twice. i remember these tunnels from the yearly christmas trips my mom, two sisters and i took to indiana. the mountains are just so beautiful; even with the rain and drizzle and ghostly fog that settles in the valleys. i am jealous of anyone who was able to drive through while the leaves were still on the trees; bright oranges, yellows and reds.

after a few podcasts that didn't hit the mark, a little basketball and some laughs over my anxiety about j racing up the moutain in this poor, suitcase laden kia, we grabbed some coffe and a rentable audio book from craker barrel.

we're almost halfway to indy and about 10€ percent of our trip to portland is complete! blixen is chilling behind me and loving the view of the mountains in her elevated position, atop a suitcase, comforter and doggy bed.

ps- the website doesn't register my blackbery's upper case command... i know, i know, who owns a blackberry now a days anyway? :)

To High Point... and beyond!!!

Apartments were cleaned, keys were returned in Raleigh and Chapel Hill yesterday, boxes were packed, and a car was stuffed full.  We got on the road around 7pm yesterday and Mary Grace was very concerned about the car sitting too low.  MG wasn't the only female concerned.  For the last hour or two of time in Raleigh, Blixen was afraid we were going to leave her.  She would run (run is a relative term when dealing with Blixen) outside every time the door opened and would sit next to the car to make sure we didn't forget about her.  However, we made it to High Point without incident. 

A special thanks goes out to William Delbert Craft, III for taking me and my 142lb box to UPS yesterday.  The box would not fit in Mary Grace's car and it had everything I am bringing to Portland that wasn't going in the car.  I just about lost it when it wouldn't get in MG's car.  Still, it barely fit under UPS' 150lb weight limit, so I consider it karma that it worked. 

We are about to pack up and will be leaving High Point for Indianapolis within the hour.  Stay tune for more updates (some posts will be rather short, those will likely be the mobile updates we make).

21st Century Oregon Trail

In 9 days we will be loading up the Kia Optima with nearly all our worldly possessions, ourselves and of course Blixen so we can drive to Portland Oregon. The most direct route will get you there in 46 hours of drive-time. We'll be doing some site seeing along the way, so we should do it in 53 hours of drive-time. We'll stop along the way in Indiana, Illinois, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. The plan is to arrive in Portland by 3pm on Tuesday, November 22nd.

We hope you will follow us on this journey. Also, we'll be using many types of social media as well. Follow us on Facebook, me on Twitter @JaredCWiener or #OregonTrail.

It won't be as difficult as the original Oregon Trail, forged over 100 years ago.







It won't be as challenging as the one we initially embarked on 25 years ago.



Still, it will be a challenging, long trip, but also one that will be full of excitement!